Thicker Than Water

by Takerra, Allen

  “You know I’m pregnant, right?” she would continuously ask. The fact that she repeated that frequently and seemed concerned about the health of the child pushed Mike to believe that his greatest fear was coming true, she was thinking of keeping this baby. The truth was Mike couldn’t stand Chauncey, but he felt as if he had fallen in love with Sasha, so if it took raising another man’s baby to be with her, he would do that. He just prayed that he didn’t have to.

  He would answer, “Sasha, I’m a doctor. It’s perfectly okay for you to have a glass of wine.” You’re not a fucking doctor.

  Well, anyway, here they were, tongue down her throat, and Sasha wondering what the hell she was doing. It was as if her mind was completely detached from her body, and her body was completely detached from her.

  She imagined Chauncey watching them on some paranormal television screen in prison.

  She imagined the hurt, and anger, and embarrassment he was feeling watching her, everything that she had felt when she walked in on him and Neli. Her imagination made her continue. Her imagination also led Mike up her stairwell and into her bedroom. She couldn’t even feel anything, it was if she was numb. To Mike she felt soft and warm, but to Sasha she felt ice cold.

  Mike kissed her passionately and eagerly, so, so happy for this moment. He had spent so many nights imagining this to the point that he would please himself just off Sasha’s image alone. He wanted to taste her so bad. Sasha wanted to taste revenge. As Mike laid her on the satin sheets on her round bed he kissed her on her neck and whispered in her ear, “Can I remove your dress?”

  Sasha looked up at him and slid out of her dress with no words, or emotion. He began kissing all over her breasts and midriff feeling like he just might explode. He touched her panties lightly and went to pull them down but hesitated.

  “Can I?”

  Sasha cut him off. “Don’t ask me. Just do it.”

  He swallowed hard, heart beating fast. He pulled her panties off gently and licked lightly along her thigh to her sweet center. Chauncey’s sweetness, a place that he was the most protective over. And here she was letting someone else taste it. As Mike licked at her, feeling like he was giving his all to please her, Sasha lifted the overturned picture of Chauncey and her in Jamaica that sat on her nightstand. She sat it up and stared straight at it, and let it stare straight at her, pretending he was watching.

  She smiled a sinister smile, completely void of any pleasure that Mike was trying to achieve, but her smile slowly faded. She tried not to think how bad she wished Chauncey’s head was between her thighs. She closed her eyes as another tear rolled down her cheek and tried to focus on an orgasm that would never come.

  “What do you mean he’s out?”

  “He’s out. He just got out yesterday.”

  Ree stared coldly at E wondering how Chris walked after a shootout in broad daylight, a dead minor, and a possession charge. Plus the nigga was on probation. There was only one way that niggas walked with those charges: they were talking to the police.

  “I want you to lay low for a minute, I’m gonna do the same. Two weeks though, I want the nigga in front of me, you hear me?”

  E nodded slowly but then added, “I mean, boss, you gonna let two weeks go by, why not get the nigga now, send a message.”

  Ree put his finger up to silence E.

  “Too messy, plus I got a feeling we’re being watched . . . and so is he. We gotta move extra careful now. Make sure we cover our tracks. I’ll talk to the little niggas and make sure they know the deal.” E nodded again.

  “Respect.”

  “Respect.”

  And then the men got in their separate cars and drove away from the docks.

  As Ree drove he contemplated everything that Chris knew about him. The only thing that could come to his mind was the night he sent Chris to the stash houses. Chris had come to his home, something that Ree was apprehensive about but took Chauncey’s word on. He knew that Chris could’ve snitched on anyone to get out, but something in his gut told him to watch his step.

  He thought more and more about his father’s offer, it was sounding so tempting right now. He circled his street once before he pulled in his driveway and headed into his house. He loved coming home to Tatum. When he walked in, Chanel and Tangee were playing cards on his living room floor and their little faces lit up when he walked in.

  “Ree!” they shouted in high-pitched squeals.

  He felt conflicted looking into the eyes of the children belonging to a man who he wanted to murder, yet he loved the little girls. He sat down on the floor with them and smiled.

  “What we playing here?” he asked.

  “Go fish,” Chanel answered. She was the older girl and often picked the games. Tangee usually went with it.

  “Go fish, huh? Who’s winning? You winning?” He turned to Tangee, who just shyly smiled back.

  “She winning.”

  Tatum walked in, wearing Ree’s favorite attire, her sexy ass in sweatpants and a tank top. He looked up at her as she stood with a spoon in hand. She held one hand under the spoon, careful not to spill as she brought it to him.

  “Here, taste my sauce.” She giggled and he chuckled as he leaned in to her.

  “You want me to taste your sauce?” They cracked up laughing. She sucked her teeth at him while he tasted the delicious sauce to her spaghetti. He nodded his approval and leaned against the staircase railing.

  “You done with summer classes, right?”

  “Yeah, thank God. But my fall classes start in a couple of weeks, so I only got a little vacation. Why?”

  He began picking dirt out of his fingernails.

  “Why don’t we make the most out of your vacation?”

  She looked at him confused and curious.

  “Well whatever do you mean, Mr. Knights?”

  “I mean, Ms. Mosley . . . let’s go on a vacation. Let’s get away.”

  She stood back and smiled. “When?”

  “Um, tomorrow,” he answered nonchalantly.

  She looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

  “Boy, I can’t go tomorrow! What about my nieces, who would watch them?”

  “We will . . . They coming with us.” She paused before she could respond, thinking of an excuse but couldn’t find any. And there was nothing more that she needed than a vacation.

  “Okay.” She smiled brightly. “Let me call Keisha and ask her to cover me.”

  Keisha worked at the shop with Tatum and was always begging for hours, but Tatum never gave them up because she needed the money, plus the shop was slow as hell so Tatum often had light shifts.

  As she was calling Keisha, she heard Ree ask the girls where they wanted to go. She knew the answer already, and secretly it was where she wanted to go too, since she had never been out of the tri-state area. “Disney World!” they screamed.

  Then Ree got on the phone, and whoever he spoke to and however he did it, the four of them had a suite booked at Disney World for a week and they were leaving tomorrow.

  For some reason niggas in jail seem to hear about shit before it even happens. Well that’s the way it seemed anyway. Because it was only two days after Sasha’s date that Deets was on the horn telling Chauncey all about it.

  “Yeah nigga, I saw them all hugged up at Benihana’s.” Clear exaggeration. “She had on some little-ass dress and the nigga was all up on her.” Another exaggeration. Chauncey remained quiet on the other end of the phone. He was furious, but he wasn’t going to lose his cool. Not over a dinner date with a nobody.

  “Then, after me and my shorty leave the joint, I see her and the nigga is his Maxima, tonguing each other down.”

  “Fuck outta here,” Chauncey said, not even wanting to picture that.

  “Nigga I’m dead serious. They ain’t even pull off for a minute. I ain’t even wanna bring it to you like that, but you my nigga.” Chauncey was infuriated. But what could he do? He wondered if she still was pregnant. He wondered who this nigga was.
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  “What color was the Maxima?”

  “What?” Deets asked, not seeing the purpose of the question.

  “Muthafucka, what color was the car?” Chauncey repeated, bass in voice and all.

  “Oh, damn nigga, calm down. It was green.”

  Chauncey had a feeling. He ended his conversation with Deets and returned to his cell, and began doing push-ups until he felt like his arms were gonna fall off.

  Chapter 17

  Love

  “So tell me about her?”

  Blair and his wife lay in the bed in an eerie silence. He paused for a second wondering what, if anything, he should tell his wife about Kim. He fessed up and confirmed what she already knew the day he read the paper announcing Kim’s death. Now she wanted to know what it was about the young urban temptress that kept her bed so cold so many nights.

  “She was a free spirit.” He paused and looked at his wife, wondering if she was up to this before he proceeded. She lay looking blankly straight ahead so he continued.

  “She had a lot of character. She was funny, but a lot of the time, I could see her pain too. It was a pain that I had never known, a pain that you have never known. I always wished for her to live happy one day, with no more pain.” She looked up at him.

  “Was she happy with you?”

  Without hesitation he answered. “Yes.”

  Before she could say anything he continued. “She had this smile that could light up a room. And her beauty was unbelievable.”

  He was talking now in a whisper, as if his wife wasn’t there anymore. She thought back to the day she saw Kim in the hotel lobby. She was a beautiful girl.

  “I remember when I first saw her. She was walking from school and she had stopped in the pizza joint. Me and some coworkers were there on lunch, and I bumped into her. She called me a lame, a square. But then she smiled at me on the way out, and I don’t know . . .”

  His wife looked up at him confused.

  “She was in college when you met her?”

  He was in a daze, unaware of his words, he just thought of that day when he met Kim.

  “No, high school.”

  She thought back to the obituary that read that Kim was only nineteen years old.

  “So, how long were you guys seeing each other?” she asked, voice cracking a little.

  He replied in a sleepy whisper, “Three years.”

  She sat up, hurt and perplexed. She got out of bed and stood over him, face twisted up in disappointment.

  “Three years . . . ? She was only sixteen . . . That’s how long we’ve been married . . . You bastard.” Still in his sleepy, dazed whisper, he replied,“I know.”

  “Girl, it is beautiful down here. The weather, the sun, everything. And you know Tangee and Chanel tearing up the place, they don’t know what to do.”

  Tatum was chilling on a lounge chair out by the pool in sunny Lake Buena Vista, Florida. She had on her Christian Dior shades and was enjoying the sun beating down on her body. The sun always added a glow to her dark brown complexion.

  “Girl, you are so lucky. I wish my ass was down there in Florida instead of in this house with corny-ass Mike.”

  Mike was laid up in Sasha’s bed, knocked out sleeping and happy.

  “Sasha, what is he doing there?” Tatum asked, laughing in a you can’t be serious tone. “You don’t even like him.”

  Sasha pouted as she flipped through channels on the television.

  “I know, Tatum, but I’m not like you. I can’t just be alone and be all right. I need a man.” She flicked off the TV out of frustration. “Plus, if he wasn’t here I would probably slit my wrists.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  Tatum thought about how Sasha must be feeling. She didn’t know what to do to help her. She told her that whatever decision she made she would be there to support her, but she couldn’t imagine being pregnant by a fiancé who’s in jail for beating up your friend, who he was sleeping with. And here Tatum was barely getting through the days without crying over Kim.

  “You know I’m here for you, right? You wanna fly down here? I’ll pay for the ticket myself.”

  Sasha smiled. “Nooooo, Tatum, you have fun. I’ll be fine. Plus, I’m on the verge of losing my job.”

  “But you don’t need your job, bitch,” Tatum joked.

  “Yeah, but I need the experience.”

  “All right, but if you change your mind let me know. Our suite is so huge you can stay in it with us and the girls and we probably won’t even see each other.”

  They laughed some more and kicked it for a few minutes before they hung up. When Tatum hung up the phone she noticed a young black boy staring at her. She tried to ignore him but his eyes were literally drilling holes through her Tommy Bahama bikini and she had paid too much money for that.

  He walked over to her wearing a big smile. Up close he wasn’t bad looking but he wasn’t cute. When he finally reached Tatum he stood right in front of her, blocking her sun.

  “I just had to come over and see you up close. From a distance you looked like this beautiful singer, but I can’t think of her name. Up close though, I can definitely see the difference.” Tatum just looked at him, still keeping her dark shades on.

  “Oh,” she answered, a little offended.

  “You’re much prettier.”

  She blandly smiled but looked around wondering when Ree would make his way down. He was still in the room and Tatum was so happy that he was getting his much needed rest, she hardly saw him sleep. She looked at Mystery Man still standing there and wondered why. He wasn’t even saying anything. Then randomly, he decided to help himself to the lounge chair next to her. Oh great.

  “You know, my boyfriend should be down any minute.”

  He looked at her arrogantly, and reclined his lounge chair.

  “It’s a free country, I can sit anywhere I want, plus I’m not worried about your boyfriend.” Tatum whipped off her shades and squinted her eyes at him.

  “Man friend,” she corrected. He laughed.

  “Oh, sorry. Man friend.”

  Tatum slowly put her shades on and continued reading her book she had brought down with her. Ree walked out into the bright pool area and looked around for Tatum. He saw Chanel and Tangee kicking and trying to swim with their floaters on their arms. He chuckled at them.

  As he spotted Tatum he noticed her going back and forth with somebody, not arguing, but not in a friendly manner either. He walked over coolly and greeted her with a kiss, then looked at the guy and then her.

  “You all right?” he asked her.

  “Yeah I’m all right . . . I was saving you a seat but somebody decided out of all the empty seats, they had to sit next to me.” She was frustrated with this dude. Prior to Ree’s coming over there, he had told Tatum that if he didn’t want her next to him, she should move. He was an asshole. The guy laughed obnoxiously and looked up at Ree.

  “You’ve got a feisty little girl here.”

  Ree kept his composure but there was fire in his eyes. “Get up.”

  The guy looked confused and then laid his head back down.

  “Like I told Ms. Pretty here, it’s a free country.”

  “Free country, huh?” Ree asked, smirking at Tatum. Then, with swiftness, he picked up the man who tried to hold on to the lounge chair, and threw him into the deep end of the pool, lounge chair and all! Chanel and Tangee scurried out of the shallow end laughing, and Tatum’s jaw hit the floor before she eventually began cracking up laughing. This would be one of those things they laughed about the whole vacation.

  After the pool incident, they all dressed and headed to Victoria and Albert’s, a restaurant on Lake Buena Vista, very expensive but with delicious food. It was the first time Tatum had seen Ree dressed up. It was a jacket and suitpants type of restaurant, and Ree wore formal well.

  The girls behaved well and dinner went superbly. Afterward they went to a nighttime fireworks show and the girls ran around with other little
kids as Tatum and Ree sat in the grass. It was like heaven.

  “Tatum.”

  “Huh?” she answered, looking up at a beautiful purple firework.

  “I really like being with you and Chanel and Tangee.”

  She smiled widely. “We like being with you, too.”

  After another moment or so he figured he would continue telling her how he felt. Something about taking this vacation with her just made him realize how much happier he was when he was around her, just in her presence.

  “I see the way you are with them. You know, you’re practically raising them and you do a good job, too.” He paused, then continued. “I would love for you to raise my children one day.”

  She smiled but she didn’t answer, and there was no need to. There was no question posed. Just as the finale came, with multiple exploding stunning fireworks, they kissed.

  Sasha sat on the phone trying to tell her mother everything without telling her much at all.

  “Ma, for once I need you to not think so superficially but actually think of your daughter’s well-being. Like can you be my mom?” she begged.

  “Sasha, what do you want me to say? I can’t believe you got yourself into this mess. One minute I’m planning the biggest wedding of your dreams and the next you’re telling me that my future son-in-law is in prison and you are going to have a baby. Don’t you keep that baby, get rid of it. It will ruin your life. You’ll get fat, and you’ll be tied down. Now if you want to marry Chauncey still, that’s fine,” Terri answered, feeling like she had all of the solutions.

  “That’s fine? That’s fine! How can that be fine, Ma, he fucked my best friend!”

  Terri was appalled.

  “First of all, young lady, you watch your damn mouth when you talk to me and second of all, Penelope was not your best friend, I told you that she was jealous of you. Chauncey was just being a man.”